BLACK FRIDAY TV PRICES : HOW LOW WILL THEY GO

It's still a few weeks away from the annual Black Friday sales frenzy, but this year we've already seen a fair amount of promotional activity prior to the three-day event itself. And given the lackluster TV sales so far this year, we expect the promotional activity to continue, and perhaps increase, right through the holiday buying season. We've already seen several major retailers—including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart—offer special "weekend" TV deals; some, including Amazon with its "Countdown to Black Friday" Gold Box promotions and Walmart's "Value of the Day," are holding special daily deals leading up to Thanksgiving. Many of these promotions either are, or will be, supplemented by even shorter "flash" or "lightning" deals, which typically last only an hour or so. And many retailers are already offering special online-only sales, with free shipping to the nearest store, or in some cases, free shipping to your home. In the event that the pre-Black Friday specials aren't enough to entice you to shop early, several of the major chains have announced they'll be opening their doors earlier than ever on Black Friday—some, including Best Buy and Target, at midnight, so that so-called "doorbuster specials" will begin at that hour rather than the more customary 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. Friday morning. And for those who can't get out until later, many retailers have announced extended store hours for Black Friday shoppers. Of course, while all this promotional activity can create excitement, the real question for those actually looking to buy a TV this year is how low will TV prices go this Black Friday weekend? Based on what we’ve already seen, both from early sales and some leaked Black Friday circulars, (including Walmart's) there should be some great deals this year. So here is what we expect to see during the Black Friday weekend:

More from ConsumerReports.org:  Top TVs for your budget Best electronics and where to buy them Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on Yahoo! $200 32-inch LCD TVs It looks like $200 will be the opening price for 32-inch LCD TVs this weekend, a great deal for anyone looking for a TV for a smaller room of the house or apartment. Both Target and Best Buy have already hit this price during Black Friday pre-sales, and Walmart will have a $188 Emerson set for Black Friday. We expect others to repeat these deals over the Thanksgiving weekend.

$300 for an off-brand 40-inch LCD TV. We've already seen some basic 40-inch sets from secondary brands in the $330 to $350 range during pre-Black Friday sales events, so it's likely a few could hit a promotional price of $250 during the weekend, leaving room for a major brand to come in at $350. But at this price, these will be fairly bare-bone sets without many—or any—extra features.

$400 42-inch TVs Walmart has already offered a 42-inch LCD TV for this amount, and we expect others will follow suit. BJ's, for example, will have a 40-inch 1080p from Sansui for $400, but we expect to see some basic sets from major brands at this price as well. It's even conceivable that there will be very basic 46-inch 1080p LCD TVs from promotional brands flirting with $400 price points during limited-time sales events.

$500 50-inch sets Remember just a year ago when $500 was a great price for a 42-inch 720p plasma? Our belief is that this year that same amount could yield a 50- or 51-inch 720p plasma, perhaps even from a major brand. Best Buy has already offered a 46-inch Panasonic 720p plasma for $480. We also expect to see a number of 46-inch 1080p LCD TVs from a few major brands in this range.

Bigger sets $700 and up If you'll consider an off-brand, house brand, or perhaps even a better-known brand that acts as retailer's house brand, we think you'll see basic 55-inch 1080p LCD sets for as low as $700. For those looking for even bigger sets, we expect to see 60-inch TVs from Sharp (in its entry-level series) and perhaps Westinghouse for $900 or even less. Walmart will have a 65-inch Toshiba LCD for under $1,000.

3D TVs: $500 and up The big question is whether there will be interest in 3D TVs this holiday season. Consumer Reports views 3D as another TV feature, not a new kind of TV, but it appears so far that consumers haven't had a strong interest in 3D, even with falling prices. Right now, LCD models are priced higher than similarly sized plasma sets, so we expect to see an entry-level 42-inch 720p plasma models with 3D capability offered for about $500 during this Black Friday period, though it will be a basic set that uses active 3D technology, which requires pricier active-shutter glasses. There should also be one or two 1080p LCD TVs—with conventional CCFL backlights—at that size and price. A similarly featured 50-inch plasma model could be $750 or so. Walmart will have a 42-inch Vizio 1080p 3D LCD TV - a full-featured set with an LED backlight and 240Hz anti-blurtechnology for $600, including four sets of passive polarized 3D glasses, as well as a 47-inch LG, bundled with a 3D Blu-ray player and 3D glasses, $800. We believe that there will be a lot of promotional activity around step-up 2011-model 3D TVs that have other features, but while the discounts will be significant, the prices won't fall below $1,000. But if you're willing to view 3D on a smaller screen, we expect there to be at least one fully featured passive 32-inch 3D TV for about $400. Based on what we've seen, it looks like this could be a great Black Friday for those interested in getting a new TV. Of course, the dilemma is always whether to buy during Black Friday, or wait even longer to see if sales are slower than expected, triggering even more price cuts later in the season.